At last! A real choice. The choice facing the electorate is not quite as George Osborne depicted it at the end of his speech today: "A record borrowing binge and higher taxes under Labour, or fiscal sanity and lower taxes under the Conservatives." But after years when we've been complaining of little to choose between the two main parties, we now see some stark differences.

Both sides, of course, have detailed and nuanced answers to questions of growth, borrowing, debt, national income and much else. They are also well aware that for the general public, the very mention of billions and trillions of pounds in connection with these subjects prompts an automatic glazing over – it just doesn't mean very much in terms of wages, or prices.

From Labour comes a clear, oft-repeated message: the government is helping consumers (with a cut in VAT), pensioners, mortgage payers and the environment, because it has decided to do something during this recession, while the Tories would sit on their hands (unfair). But equally unfair is the clear Tory message – that Labour are giving with one hand, but taking away much more with the other.

What is true is that both sides are reverting to their comfort zones. Labour MPs have rarely been happier than when they heard Alistair Darling announce he will raise the top rate of income tax to 45p for those earning over £150,000. It's hardly a pip-squeaking rate, certainly compared to those imposed by previous Labour and Conservative governments, and will only raise a fraction of the revenue needed to pay off the government's new debts. But, as everyone at Westminster agrees, it is a symbolic gesture, which will endear the prime minister and the chancellor to all those Labour supporters who have washed their hands of this government because it hasn't been clear whose side it is on.

Now – sensing a new public mood, which chimes with the mood in Barack Obama's America – New Labourites and Blairites will go along with the decision. But expect a harsh backlash if by the time of the next election the move to raise taxes doesn't look like such a good idea.

Labour's new top rate, albeit three years down the line, has made the Conservatives' job easier. Despite a speech strewn with far too many pre-cooked soundbites, Osborne retrieved his damaged reputation with an energetic critique of Darling's plans. In one sense, he is in a win-win situation: if Labour's tax cuts and spending boost work over the next few years and bring the recession to a swift end, Osborne can still oppose those later tax rises to pay for them. And if we are still in the throes of recession by the next election then he can say: "I told you so, the attempts to boost the economy didn't work."

Yet it is not all good news for the Conservatives. What has become perfectly plain over the last few weeks is that for all their talk of fiscal responsibility, the Tories are prepared to let jobs and businesses go to the wall over the next few years. They still haven't come up with a clear plan for dealing with the current economic problems. So I'd expect a boost for Labour in the polls after today, and look forward to a real ideological battle by the time of the next election.